County Executive Armond Budish announced today a plan created by the County Sheriff’s Office, Jail Administration and MetroHealth to prevent the spread of the highly-contagious coronavirus in the County Corrections facilities.

Highlights include:

• Established locations within the jail to immediately isolate up to 25 symptomatic inmates and quarantine up to 48 verified COVID-19 inmates if needed, with the potential to increase this by another 100 if needed.
• Educating staff on necessary actions needed to respond to COVID-19 issues within the Corrections Center.
• MetroHealth immediately upon intake conducting inmate medical screenings for COVID-19 symptoms.
• Utilizing remote video visitation for all inmates’ friends and family, with one free remote visit per week for the next 30 days.
• As of today, the main jail population is at 1,463, the lowest ever, and well below the capacity of 1,863. This reduces the risk of exposure to the virus and allows the County to open space in the jail to isolate and quarantine inmates.